For All I Care
by Rhosan L
Summary: It's all Slade's fault...and yet it's not. His wife, Addie, places the blame on Slade for what he's done to this family and makes him face the consequences for it.


**A/N Sooo...this is my first story on here. I'm kinda nervous about putting it out there, so I hope y'all enjoy it! ^_^ Bonus points to anyone who guesses which movie inspired this.**

 **Edit: I didn't like how it was written so I came back and rewrote it a little. It's** **basically** **the same, just written better.**

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

The sound of the steady heart-monitor was the only sound in the hospital room. A mother stood beside the hospital bed of her remaining son. The door opened revealing her husband. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and a stern look, and though he had white hair, it did not make him look old. She looked back and scowled at seeing him before turning back to face the child. The man walked up to his wife and placed a comforting arm around her knowing that she was hurting at seeing her child like this. Upon the skin-to-skin contact, she tore herself away from him as if she had been burned and gave him an icy look before walking a few steps away from him and purposefully turning her back toward him with folded arms. He gave his wife a surprised look but made no movements other than placing his hand back at his side. His gaze followed hers to the common point of interest - their son.

"You shouldn't be here." she commented thoughtfully keeping her voice quiet. "It's your fault he's here in the first place." He made no reply, nor did he even acknowledge that he had heard her. He simply kept staring at his son a plethora of emotions swimming in his eyes. If his wife had seen them, then she would have seen the immense guilt he felt over this. His eyes regained their nearly emotionless state seconds before she whirled back to face him.

"Do you want Joey to be killed, too?" She extended her hand in a questioning gesture as her voice rose slightly. "It isn't enough that he almost died because of the enemies _you_ made, or that his older brother was killed in _your_ line of work. But now you have to come to Joey's bedside as if you even cared?!" The woman seemed to be going into hysterics by now as her voice began to crescendo, but she quickly regained her composure. "And now" she began more quietly as she fisted her hands and placed them at her sides to keep herself from _throttling_ this _insufferable_ man, "the doctors said that Joey will never be able to speak again." She didn't really know why she was telling him this—he didn't _deserve_ to know! She felt tears threatening to spill over. She wished that she wasn't such an easy crier like she used to be. Having children… _losing_ children seemed to do that to a body. "They said that he's lucky just to be _alive_." She spat out the last word as if it were a joke—what kind of life would her son have to live now; how would this affect the rest of his life; what kind of scars would he bear until he died…his future seemed to be very uncertain at this point.

"He died because of _you_!" Adeline Wilson whispered harshly banishing those tears with sheer force of will. She was a no-nonsense woman to begin with, but now she was simply terrifying even to her husband. "Grant died because of _you_!" Her accusation received no verbal response from the man.

Slade Wilson rubbed his neck trying to think of a suitable answer. There was really no excuse for any of this. As a husband and father, his first priority should have been to his family. He had spent the last several days running around trying to sort out this mess, that he hadn't even had the time to properly mourn his first son's death. He hadn't even had much time to sleep since the initial incident, and the sleep deprivation was beginning to wear on him. "Addie…it was completely out of my hands." His smooth voice rumbled throughout the room—that smooth voice that he used to talk himself out of any situation…it wasn't working this time. "I know you don't want an apology, and I'm not going to apologize for something that I couldn't have stopped. In the end, Grant went out on his own, and paid the consequences f—"

"I don't _want_ an apology!" she interrupted him as she confirmed what he had just told her. "I just want my son back…" She trailed off as she fought tears once more.

"Addie…" He shook his head to clear it. Did he almost tell his wife that she needed to calm down? As if she could calm down given the circumstances. He needed to get some rest more than he had initially thought. What was something that had always managed to calm her down…? "Let's go get some coffee." Slade offered—that usually worked in these situations with her—not that he had ever been in this specific situation with her, but coffee seemed to calm her down for some reason. Addie had this tempted look on her face, but looked torn when she looked back at their son. Seeing his wife look uncertainly at the boy in the bed, he added, "He's not going to go anywhere, Addie. If you stay, you'll just be sitting here for hours staring at the boy."

She pondered the words before nodding, momentarily reminded of why she had married the man—that seemingly unflawed logic. They both walked out of the room together with a momentarily mutual agreement—don't kill each other, if only for the boy.

oooOOOooo

Seconds after they left the room, Joey's green eyes opened slowly. He scrunched his face up in confusion before his vision focused. His head turned over to look at the source of that annoying beeping sound. Whatever it was, it needed to be turned off! His eyes widened in a way that would have been quite comical if it hadn't been for the circumstances as he recognized what the machine was and what it meant. He closed his eyes as he attempted to search his memories for any reason that he would have been in the hospital. And more importantly: where were his parents now? He exhaled slowly as he remembered. He remembered shouting…threats…his father's angry voice…pain, so much pain…his father's panicked voice, which scared him more than anything—his father had _never_ been one to panic. What had happened to them?

"Ah, Mister Joseph Wilson, I see you are now awake." the cheerful voice of the doctor caused the boy to jump, startling him out of his thoughts. Joey groaned—or would have groaned if he could have uttered a single sound. Realizing that no sound came from him, he shot up in the hospital bed with a panicked look. He breathed heavily, looking straight forward trying to rationalize why…"Your vocal chords were damaged beyond repair. I'm sorry." the doctor continued, "Your parents have stepped out momentarily." Joseph looked at the man trying to comprehend…his…parents? They were okay then? He had to go find them now and get some sort of explanation from them; because now, he remembered _everything_! "If there is anything that I can d—" The man was cut short as Joseph had made eye contact with the man. This in itself was not why the man had stopped, however. Most likely, the reason he stopped mid-sentence was the fact that, as soon as eye contact was made, the boy seemed to float above the bed like a ghost and sink into the man. The only sound in the room was of the doctor gasping before there was silence…well, silence from the doctor. All the machines that the boy had been previously hooked up to seemed to be confused at the immediate lack of a person to monitor. Many alarms instantly sounded.

The room now contained one body—that of the doctor. The man did not move for a few seconds. Then he slowly lifted his hand to examine it; his eyes widened in disbelief. "No way…" he breathed. At the sound of his own voice, he clamped a hand over his own mouth. _I've got to get out of here!_ the doctor or more specifically, Joseph thought. Before any nurses could come in and check on the alarms, he left the room and sped-walked down the corridors. Using the façade of a doctor, he easily escaped the hospital. He ran down several streets until he ended up in an almost abandoned park. _Where am I going to go?_ he pondered for a moment _Those men were after Mom and Dad. And where is Grant? I haven't seen him for…I actually can't remember the last time I saw him_ …After a few moments of thinking, he remembered that Grant had told him a month or so ago about this "secret hiding place" that Joey was allowed to use for emergencies only. That seemed like the best place to go for now; this was an emergency after all. After releasing the doctor, who seemed to remember none of what had transpired, he ran down the street to the "secret hiding place" his brother had told him about. He would collect some things, explore the place, wait for Grant, then…well, who knew what adventures would occur!

oooOOOooo

Addie and Slade sat at a corner outdoor café a few blocks from the hospital, each with a cup of coffee in their hands but neither taking a drink. Both were too wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Slade stared into his cup of coffee. He always had it black since he was in Vietnam. Having anything else in it seemed a waste, but this time he had place some cream and sugar in it. He didn't know what he had been thinking; it was practically undrinkable now. As he stared into the untouched cup, he couldn't help but let his mind wander. _This is all my fault. And yet, it's not…humph I hate duplicity. Maybe I should just give up being Deathstroke…just be…Slade. Huh, the irony is killing me—I work hard to become dangerous and unstoppable, yet I failed to protect that which is most important to me. If I had just focused on being a father…things would have turned out differently. Grant would still be here, and Joey would still have his voice. Addie seems to think I know everything and nothing at the same time_ _—such a strange woman_ _—but I really don't know how to deal with this situation. I've mostly been playing it by ear, and I've come to find out that I'm a terrible musician_ _…_

Addie, on the other hand, was actually considering forgiveness. As a wife and a mother, it was something that she had had to do countless times before. This was just going to be a bit of a bigger thing to forgive. She took a sip of her coffee. Unlike her husband, she enjoyed the creams and sugars in it; but this time, she was drinking it black. The bitter taste was a bit of a distraction from her current emotional state. _I should have realized that he was doing things behind my back. He says that it's not really his fault, but I beg to differ. Then again_ _ _…_ Grant is—was his son, too. He's probably hurting just as much as I am…if not more. He's the one that has to carry the guilt. He knows that it's his fault about everything—that's probably killing him. Maybe I could find it in my heart to forgive him_… _If I did though_ … _I don't_ _know if_ —

Slade's gaze lifted from his coffee to look at his wife as her cellphone began to ring. Startled from her thoughts, she reached into her pocket and answered. "This is Addie." Slade hid a smile at that tone of voice that he had gotten to know so well; that was just like her—always straight to business. His smile turned to a frown as her hand tightened around the phone, and her eyes narrowed in anger. "I see…Yes. I'll be there shortly. I—" She sighed and closed her eyes before giving a quiet "Thank you." She hung up and gave her husband an venomous glare. "I hope. You're. Happy. Now." She spat out each word with distaste, stood up, and purposefully strode toward the hospital.

Slade quickly slapped some money on the table, enough to pay for the coffee and a handsome tip for the waitress, and ran after her. He saw her short-cutting through an alley and gently grabbed her arm as he caught up with her. He wanted—needed—to know who that was, what the caller wanted…the list continued. Without missing a beat, she turned around and decked him—or, at least, she tried. The man easily caught her fist almost barely noticing her attempts at violence toward him. She looked up at him and saw his face filled with concern. That only served to fuel her anger. _How dare this man pretend to be_ concerned _about anyone but himself. He has done nothing but tear this family apart! What more could he want?_ "What do you want?!" voicing her thoughts in a desperate cry. This caused the man to pause…what did he want?

After considering a moment he answered honestly, "I only wish to help—"

"No! That's what you wanted to do the day that Grant…" She stopped to take a deep, calming breath. "And now _…_ Joey is gone." Her voice dropped to an indiscernible whisper, and it was only due to Slade's enhanced hearing that he actually heard the last part of her statement. Slade's eyes slightly widened in surprise as he released her hand, and she clutched it in her other hand and held it to her chest in an attempt to comfort herself. Slade had never seen the woman so broken. If he offered her comfort, would she even accept it? And what did she mean by 'gone'? Addie must have secretly been a mind-reader, for she continued. "The doctors don't know what happened. They found his hospital bed empty. No note, no struggle. Nothing… He's gone."

"Addie—" he stopped, perhaps now wasn't a good time to comfort her—action was needed. He made his way past her now fully purpose-driven. He was not on his way to the hospital now; he was headed straight towards his safe house. He had weapons, supplies, and many other resources there. Then _…_ the hunt would begin.

"What are _you_ going to do? Make a bigger mess of things again?" Her voice dripped with hateful sarcasm. Slade stopped and turned to her opening his mouth to reply. "Don't. I don't want to hear your _excuses_." She interrupted harshly before he could answer. She spat on the ground at his feet. She was done with this man. Done with this marriage. Done with _…_ _…everything!_

Slade turned around, seeing she did not wish for his presence nor his aid. "If there is anything you need, you know where to find me. But in the meantime, I'm looking for our son."

 _I'm gonna kill this man._ "I don't think you understand the kind of pain—"she began, but was interrupted by her husband's "flawless logic".

"Life is pain, Addie." he stated matter-of-factly. "Anyone telling you differently is trying to sell you something." He started to walk away done with this conversation. It was doing nothing but wasting his time. His wife's voice caused him to pause.

"You mock my pain. Never do it again!" her voice rose in volume until a yell "I _died_ that day," Slade froze as he felt the hairs on his neck raise. His sixth sense of danger had been fine tuned from his work, and he had learned to never ignore it. _Addie, what are you doing_ _ _…_?_ He slowly turned around as she fiercely whispered, "And you can die too for all I _care_." Her last word was emphasized by the sound of a single bullet being discharged from a gun. His eyes widened as, for less than a millisecond, a piece of lead flew through the air toward his right eye. He had no time to duck, dodge, or even think before the bullet hit its target. He fell to the ground without a sound. _As you wish._

 **A/N: Yup. That's basically it. It's kinda short now that I'm actually looking at it. Ah well! I'll get better the more I do this right? lol**

 **And to anyone that was still wondering, the movie was "The Princess Bride". My younger sisters watched it for a week straight, and while I was walking around the house during that time this just popped into my head, and I wrote it down. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Have a great day!**

 **Please R &R. I want to know how I did. Was it good? Was it bad? What can I improve?**

 **And as always...Thanks for reading. :)**


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